(Left to right) Bob Daiber and Johnathan Todd announced, Tuesday, Oct. 17, that they’d be running for governor and lieutenant, respectively, in the Democratic Party primary election in November. The two made the announcement during an outdoor press conference at Valois Restaurant, 1518 E 53rd St. – Owen M. Lawson III

Rev. Dr. Finley C. Campbell, co – chair of the IFDC said he and the organization’s other co-chair Freddie Petersen chose Hyde Park as the place for Daiber and Todd to make the announcement because it is a diverse community.

Daiber, an Edwardsville, Ill. native and Madison County regional schools superintendent, said his goal is to bridge the gap between rural and city issues across the state.

“Today Jonathan and I begin the Unite Illinois Campaign,” Daiber said. “As I toured the state over the last six months, I found three things that residents are concerned about, good quality public schools, safe neighborhoods and good paying jobs.”

Daiber said he and Todd, a social worker from Chicago’s Austin community, look forward to laying out a plan that would help implement better policy in those three areas of major concern to people across the state.

Daiber said he selected Todd from a “long list” of possible running mates and that Todd was chosen because of the work he’s done in the city.

Campbell said the reasons the IFDC supports Daiber include his support for multiracial diversity and unity, his support for demands for better treatment for those between the ages of 18 – 36 years old in the criminal justice system and his outreach work to those in rural areas in northwestern and southern Illinois that have felt left out of the Democratic Party.

The IFDC, which was originally founded by Fannie Lou Hamer, Civil Rights activist of “The Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP)” in 1964, is an independently run organization that was once an affiliate of the Democratic National Committee.

With an endorsement from the IFDC, Daiber will run against gubernatorial candidates J.B. Pritzker, Daniel Biss, and Chris Kennedy in the upcoming 2018 Illinois Democratic Primary elections.

The 2018 Illinois gubernatorial election will take place on Nov. 6, 2018.